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Kurt Russell says he walked away from 'Star Wars' because George Lucas couldn't make up his mind

Actor Kurt Russell attends the 'Deepwater Horizon' premiere during the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 13, 2016 in Toronto. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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Movie star Kurt Russell had to walk away from the chance to lead the cast of Star Wars because filmmaker George Lucas couldn’t make up his mind if he wanted him to play Luke Skywalker or Han Solo.

Hollywood lore suggests the actor missed out on a role in the sci-fi film franchise but Russell insists that’s not altogether true.

He had been offered the chance to star in a TV western series, called The Quest, at the same time he auditioned for Lucas.

“I said to George one day... ‘Do you know if you’re gonna use me or not... because I’ve got this other show,” Kurt tells Access Hollywood.

“I finally came down to the Friday and I had to answer and I said, ‘George, I gotta know and he said, ‘I just don’t know’. And I said, ‘I gotta go and do this television show, this western; I’ve gotta go to work’.”

Russell told the news show Lucas couldn’t decide if Russell should play Han Solo or Skywalker. The parts famously went to Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill.